Brand New Life
by Mr.Blulrich
Summary: A little trip to the past changes the lives of many people. How will things workfor them now?
1. Chapter 1

**This was inspired by Eureka. I only watched the first three episodes of Season 4 so far, so pretty much spiler-free from the show, but the main plot is the same. I really liked it and I began to imagine what would be like to have Bones's characters in that situation. Basically, they go to the past, and when they come back, things have changed. And that's how far it's similar to Eureka. After that point, everything comes from my twisted imagination.**

**This happens somewhere between Hannah leaving and the blizzard. Spoilers for everything that came before.**

**Sorry for any mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones nor Eureka.**

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><p>"Now... what would that be?" Cam sounded slightly confused, which was surprising. There was a very old and weird machine in the middle of the lab, that she had no idea what it was or how it got there. And she was not upset.<p>

"It seems like technology from the 50's." Brennan said, moving forward to examine better the object.

"What, like, from the Space Race?" Booth asked. "What is it doing here?"  
>"I though I made myself pretty clear on that point. I don't know what it is, what it's doing here or who brought it here." Cam did sound upset now.<p>

"Okay, okay. Why don't we ask the security guard and go check the cameras, huh? It's better than trying to guess."

"I can't just leave now. I'm very behind on my paperwork, I need..." Brennan interrupted her:

"It's okay, Booth and I can go to look at it, right?"

"Yeah, sure." Cam looked at them, sighted and said:

"I just feel like I should be doing this, y'know? Come back and tell me what you found."

She watched them go away. Things appearing out of nowhere were not good. And she didn't have a good feeling about _that_ particular thing.

"Hey, buddy." The guard turned around and saw Dr. Brennan and her partner in the door.

"Hello. Can I help?"

"Actually, yes." The FBI agent moved forward and said in a very casual tone "Huh, here's the thing; someone brought into the lab some kind of machine that no one really knows what it is. Now, it's not an official investigation or anything, but were you here last night?"  
>"Do you think I did that?"<br>"No, but maybe you saw who did." Dr. Brennan said like it was obvious, which was. But the guard was still offended. Her partner realized that and quickly returned the conversation to him.

"Yeah, or you could just let us take a look at it and..."

"Well, sir, you said yourself, it's not an official investigation, and I'm afraid I'm not aloud to show this tapes to anyone, unless there's a court order. I'm not holding grudges or anything" He added when the agent opened the mouth "But the FBI already asked stuff like that before and a guy got fired because he helped. Sure, the boss at the time wasn't really fond of the Bureau , but I don't wanna risk it. Sorry." He turned back, but didn't sound sorry at all. Booth sighted and pulled Brennan outside.

"Wow. I thought the problem with the FBI was only between the squints."

"I don't remember anyone being fired for helping the FBI. Do you think he was making that up?"

"I don't know. Look, I'm gonna go after the guy who was here last night and see if he's nicer. Do me a favor, okay, don't do anything with that thing, and don't let anyone do anything either. Just leave it there."  
>"But Booth, the machine is right in the middle of the platform. How are we supposed to work?" But he was already gone. Brennan then went straight to her office.<p>

"So you never saw a thing?" Booth asked.

"Am I under arrest?" The guard asked. He was young. Probably a gig after college to pay bills.

"No, gee, relax. I just need to know if anyone came in during the night."

"No one, told'ya. Just the usual guys doing the round. And no one went to the platform."

"Okay, then." He sounded resigned. Nothing else to do there. Cam would just have to find something to do with it. "Thanks, man." He left the stressed guy in his chair and decided to go outside, to get some fresh air.

It was odd being there again. He was getting better, after so long, but he was. He was enjoying being there again. Booth jumped a bit when his phone rang. It was an unknown number.

"Booth."

And suddenly things changed. There was a cold breeze that came from behind, so cold it made him shiver, even though it was spring. He turned around.

The place was different. Sure, it was still the same building, but it seemed like something else he'd seen before. A military base.

A piece of paper hit his face. It was the front page of a fairly new newspaper.

_'1958._

_What the fu...'_

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><p><em><strong>Reviews would be great. :)<strong>_


	2. Chapter 2

**Still don't own Bones. Still sorry for mistakes.**

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><p><p>

His phone was dead. No one was around. The Jeffersonian, or what used to be the Jeffersonian, seemed full of people. Looking at that paper, confused, Booth was trying to figure out what to do. Was it a prank? How could it be a prank? But it couldn't be real.

He nearly slapped himself when he realized. '_I'm standing in front of a museum! Hello, it's from there, maybe someone left a window open.' _The fact that objects from the museum wouldn't just be laying around or look that well-conserved didn't cross his mind. He was desperate for believing that the little part of his mind shouting 'time traveling' was insane and totally wrong. So he did.

The only reasonable thing to do seemed to be going inside the building. He was almost inside when an old-fashion car stopped in front of him and a guy yelling at him got out. He was a strong man, wearing a nice gray suit, with a black vest underneath and a blue tie. His brown hair was covered by a matching hat. He looked like a nice person. At that time, however, he was really mad at Booth, who had no idea of what was wrong.

"Who the hell are you? You can't go in there."

"Easy there, fellow." Booth almost took his badge out, but though better. His mind was giving up to the possibility it was trying so hard to ignore, and flashing a badge from 2011 in the 50's wasn't very smart. He could actually be arrested for impersonating a federal agent. "I'm just trying to find... uhu... some friends."

The guy wasn't very impressed. In fact, he got even more suspicious. But apparently he bought it, because he decided to walk Booth inside.

He was right; it was a military base. Which was odd, since he didn't remember anything about the Jeffersonian being use by the army in the 50's. '_Stop it! It didn't happen! You're... sleeping! Yes, yes, you're sleeping! Dream! All a dream! That's right, nothing to worry about!' _After he concluded that though, he began to feel better. Why he didn't think of that before? It was clearly a dream! He decided to play along. I mean, he was going to wake up pretty soon, right? That dream was going on for a while now, it had to be ending.

Soldiers were walking around everywhere. Boxes being filled with guns and other things were all over the floor and the tables. All the equipment was gone, which seemed logic. There was a little radio broadcasting something about the movie "Touch Of Evil". Booth couldn't help himself.

"Man, Welles did a great directing job on that one." The guy looked oddly at him.

"The movie didn't even being to be filmed. And Welles is only an actor in this one. But it's only a B-Movie. I'm more interested in..." Booth stopped listening. He was now fully convinced of two things: one, that it was all a dream, and two, that guy was going to arrest him. Or at least lock him up. The handcuffs in his pocket made that clear, especially with the way the man was acting toward him. Trying to look calm and relax, but underneath, there was a great deal of tension and suspicion.

&&&&&

About 10 minutes later, Booth had his confirmation; he was under arrest. The guy, who apparently was named Jeff Narosien, left him in an empty room, probably a temporary interrogation room, with a table and a chair. They gave him a glass of water, that he didn't drink.

Booth was getting nervous. His dream theory wasn't as convincing anymore. Slowly, he was accepting the fact that maybe, just maybe, he was in 1958.

The door opened and Narosien entered. He left his relax posture outside and was in total interrogation mood. Booth recognized it. Something very tough was coming up.

"Wanna tell me who are you, now?" Booth didn't say a thing. '_Don't make eye contact. Don't say anything. Look calm. Don't lose the control.' _He kept repeating this mantra in his head. The sense of danger was enormous now, and he didn't want to risk anything.

"A spy? Communist? I'd never bet. You have the smell of an American. Can't believe you're a traitor." _'Don't say anything. Don't lose the control.'_

"If I were you, I'd start talk..." Narosien was interrupted by a soldier who had just opened the door.

"Sorry, sir, but we found other spies." That made Booth nervous. So he wasn't alone in this nightmare?

"Brought friends, huh? Are you the leader or just a pawl?" He leaned forward, bringing his face very close to Booth's.

"I'll treat them just the way they deserve, don't worry." With that, he got up and followed the soldier out.

Right after the door closed, Booth started to consider his options. He was alone, possibly in 1958, or mad. He was under arrest in the Jeffersonian, that was being used as a military base. Not very good for him, but he could make things better. For a start, he had to get away, which was done very quickly. In another string of luck, the hallway was empty. In fact, all the way to the platform, no one was around. Until he got to Brennan's office. Because, sitting in the couch, looking incredible tense, was Brennan.

He went there as fast and quietly as he could. She was surprised to see him there, but recovered quickly and was able to manage saying:

"Booth, what happened here? I was on my phone and all of the sudden it went dead and people were walking around..."  
>"How you weren't caught?"<p>

"There was only a group in soldiers outfits, I hid behind the desk and waited till they were gone. After that, no one passed by. But what happened, everyone is gone and..."

"Now, I'm sure you'll think it's insane, but... we're in 1958." He waited for her to dismiss the idea immediately or to start some scientific mumble-jumble, but he didn't see what was coming.

"Yeah, I though that too. Do you think that the machine has something to do with it?"  
>At first, he was surprised at her reaction, but he decided to bring it up later. The weird machine they found at the Jeffersonian was still there in the platform. Coincidences have time and place, but there's no such thing when you're trapped in the past.<p>

"Is it possible?"

"I don't know. But it's the only thing that makes sense."

Booth had to laugh at that remark.

"What?"  
>"Sense? Really? Nothing makes sense, Bones, and here you are, telling me it does!"<p>

"I'm not saying this makes sense, Booth. I'm saying that... okay, maybe I am saying this makes sense. Modern scientists don't know how to travel through time, but I always believed it was a possibility and that eventually, we would be able to do it." Booth was still grinning.

"So you believe in magic."

"It's not magic, Booth."  
>"Really? Time traveling? I know very well that most scientists dismiss that idea. If it's not science, what else could be besides magic?"<br>"Any sufficiently advanced _technology _is indistinguishable from magic . Science can explain everything, the truth is that we're not even close to doing that. But someday we will. Maybe that machine came from that time"

"Didn't you say that it looked like it was from the 50's?"

"Well..." She was embarrassed now "Yes, I did. But here we are, at the 50's, and the same machine, in the same place. It doesn't even look newer. It can't be a coincidence."  
>"Yeah, I'm with you on that." Right after he finished his sentence, the door swung open.<p>

Cam was standing there.

"Great, you two are here too."

"Cam!" Brennan sounded half relieved, half shocked. "Are you okay?"  
>"Yes, you?"<br>"Yeah, if we ignore the fact we're in 1958, we're just fine." Booth said it with so much irony in his voice that even Brennan got it. Cam, however, didn't seem very upset by that.

"C'mon"

She went out and the two followed her. She began to explain what happened:

"I was calling Michelle when all the sudden everyone in the lab was gone and a guy with a military uniform was yelling at me, like he saw a ghost. Now that I'm thinking, I must've appeared from nowhere, so he had a reason to scream. I had no idea of what was going on, but I figured it would be better to making stop. I couldn't, so I had to knock him out."

"Shouldn't we be worrying about the soldiers? They could show up any minute." Booth was looking around every 5 seconds.

"No. I didn't see anyone else but the guy in my office."  
>"Now that you're mentioning, I didn't see many people here either." Brennan said. They were now in Cam's office. Inside, a very unpleasant surprise.<p>

"Now there's five of us!" Hodgins said in a very weird tone. Angela was beside him, with a scared look in her face.

"We need to get out of here." Booth said.

"Thanks for establishing the obvious." Angela said, ironically.


	3. Chapter 3

**I had some problems editing the last chapter. It's a bit messy, I know.**

**Anyway, Bones=not mine.**

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><p>Booth couldn't help himself. Every now and then he would look through the window of Cam's office. That kind of thing didn't happen everyday, and he sure didn't want to know what would happen if they were caught again. He realized Brennan was thinking that too, because she was doing the same thing. The other three, however, were very concentrated on finding out how they could go back to their own time.<p>

"If it was that machine, maybe we should take a look at it, or at least try to find something about it here." Hodgins said.

"Honey, there are no computers, which would be the only way we could get that kind of access. If they know the thing that brought us here, I'm sure the information won't be laying around."

"You're right, but they must have some kind of filing system around here." Cam was quite for a while, like she was trying to find the right way to say something that should be obvious, and yet wasn't. "Maybe one of us could, you know, go undercover." That draw Booth's attention to the conversation immediately.

"No, no no no. I don't really know how the Army is in the 50's, but I'm sure they don't like spies. That Narosian made that very clear to..." He stopped. Something was wrong.

"Booth?" Brennan asked "Are you okay?"

"They said they found someone. I was wondering why no one was coming here, by now they should know I was gone, right? But that's the thing; they don't."

"I don't get you point, dude." Hodgins was trying very hard not to sound amazed, and failing miserably.

"I was outside when... _it_ happened. And I met this guy, Jeff Narosian. No idea who he is, but he arrested me, thinking I was a communist, a spy. He was trying to break me when a soldier interrupted the questioning, saying they found other spies. They left me alone, and here am I."

"So, you think they don't know you're gone?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah."

"At the downside, maybe is someone else from our time they've got." Cam still had that look "But at the bright one, maybe you could pass by one of them. I'm sure the only guy who payed attention to your face was the one that arrested you. The other ones probably didn't give a damn about you."

Booth sighted "You're right. We don't know how long we'll be here, so it'll be good to have someone inside."

"Look, I'll go with you..." Brennan started, but Booth stopped her right the way

"You're kidding me, right? You're not going."

"Yes, I am! You'll need someone with scientific knowledge so you can get the right papers."

"She's right, Booth." Angela wasn't talking much, but apparently she thought it was time to interfere "This is a two-men job. No way you can do that on your own." That seemed to convince him

"Okay, then. Maybe you guys could try finding something that will help us, you know, like... like..." he struggled a bit, but they understood him. "Good. That's it then. C'mon Bones."

"Good luck, you two." Hodgins said.

"Thanks."

Just like when they were going to Cam's office, no one was around. They started to look inside the offices, trying to find some outfits for them. Although Brennan's and Cam's offices were still offices, most of the others were simply filled with boxes. When Brennan opened the first one, they found several guns and munition. Booth took a couple for them, and Brennan went to the second box. That one was filled with pills.

After two rooms and several weapons, medicines and once a pack of beer, they got lucky and found some spare uniforms for Booth. While he was getting dress, she kept looking. Soon she found a nurse outfit. She didn't like the idea very much, but she was aware that nurses were probably the only females working in that place.

"Sir." Booth and Brennan turned. "Are you the new Lieutenant? Narosian warned me you were arriving."

Wow. They really were lucky. Without thinking, Booth just grabbed the first one that seemed to fit him. And according to it, he _was_ a Lieutenant. Time to pretend.

"Yes, officer. I was just, huh, asking the Nurse where I could find the... the..." He couldn't think of anything that made sense. Fortunately, the guy didn't pay much attention to that. Soldiers were trained to not ask questions, only to follow orders.

"Of course, sir. This way." He turned to Brennan "Ma'am, you can go back now. Woman aren't aloud to leave the Nursery."

Brennan opened her mouth to complain, but she thought better. They were in a time that based itself on sexism. She would have to play cool. So, she just said "Yes, sir." before leaving.

Booth watched her go, worried. They didn't talk about what to do if they split up. He didn't have much time to think, though, because the guy was calling him.

Brennan didn't know where the Nursery was, but she didn't think of that as problem, since her plan didn't involve that place at all. She waited till Booth and the soldier were gone and moved forward. They made through the offices with no problem, the only person they found was the soldier, and that after they already left the platform way behind. The two men went in the direction they were moving to originally, but that wasn't an option to her anymore. So she just went through the only other door there.

She realized that it was the way to the place they kept the Gormagon Vault. It wasn't really a basement, but it was close to one. Now, the place was dark and very hot, and apparently empty. She found a candle and some matches when she moved her hands through a table right beside the door, and lit it up.

Whatever Brennan thought she would find, it sure wasn't that.

Booth had to get rid of that man. He was leading him to Narosian, and that was the last thing Booth wanted. When he saw the sign indicating a bathroom, he took the chance.

"Hey, can we just make a quick stop? I gotta go to the bathroom." The guy didn't even blink.

"Of course. It was a long trip, I'm sure." Not knowing what to do, Booth entered the bathroom.

It was clean. And unfortunately, the windows were too small. The only way out was through the door he came in. _'Crap. No use being here'_.

He heard steps. And the voice of the impassible soldier. "Mr. Narosian. The Lieutenant is here."


	4. Chapter 4

**Still messy. The scenes kind of jump from one to another, I know, but I'm working on that for now on. ****Also, I was really pleased to see reviews and story alerts to this.**

**Animus et Anima : that is a very good idea. And unfortunately, it would mess up a bit with what I have in mind. Otherwise, I would put that right the way, there are just too many possibilities on that. He is mentioned, though, and since I'm not sure of his title either, I'm taking some liberties on that.**

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><p>Okay. There was a rational explanation to that. There was <em>always<em> an explanation. Because that was the way the Universe worked. At least in Temperance Brennan's eyes. Of course, about three hours ago, time travel was impossible in her eyes. And she was dead wrong on that one.

But if there was one thing she learned working with Booth, was that coincidences weren't something to accept easily. Especially when you were trying to make sense out of things.

The Vault looked the same. All the Gormagon related things were there. The silver skeleton. All the real bones were there. Even the knee bone he sent Brennan to do it for him. The knee bone Zack sent her.

"Dr. Brennan? Why are you dressed like a nurse?"

She turned. The Vault wasn't the same thing that looked the same. Zack still had his short hair cut, that same confused look on his face when he was trying to understand some social interaction. Kind of like she did sometimes.

"Zack?"

"Dr. Brennan?"

"What are you doing here?" That was a stupid thing to say. He was clearly working. He was the one that should be asking that question. But she was too surprised to think any further than 'Why are you not in the mental facility?', and today was too much of a weird day. The best thing to do was what they were already doing; playing along.

"I'm working. I was actually going to look for you. I found something."

If everything wasn't surprising enough, he led her to the Vault and did the exact same thing he did in the past. He showed Brennan how the laser would reflect in the mirrors. He told her he suspected that they were being watched, that there was a camera there. He was almost done when Booth came down the stairs.

It wasn't her Booth. Not the one that was with her, dressed as a Lieutenant, mistaken for a communist spy. That was the Booth from that time; the time when Zack wasn't a killer. The time when Sweets wasn't a friend, only an annoying shrink. Her dad was still in jail. And so many things that never happened. Booth never told her he wanted her. She never told him she regreted saying no.

"Hey Bones, what's up with that outfit? Going to a party or something?"

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><p>"He's right inside the bathroom."<p>

It wasn't time to panic, though Booth really felt like it. He'd hit a dead end so easily, he barely got a chance to do something. Narosian was right outside, and he sounded quite upset.

"Long trip, I guess. All the soldiers are being called for a meeting in the main room. You should probably go now."

"Yes, sir." Narosian didn't seem to be in the Army. It was more like he had some authority over it. But the only thing that really mattered for Booth at that time was that he was too damn close. And that he was taking too long to get out.

"Lieutenant Keenan? Is everything all right?"

Not knowing what to do, Booth tried to disguise his voice. "Huh, yes, sir."

It didn't come out very well, and Booth held his breath, trying to figure a way out of that place. Narosian, however, didn't see anything was wrong.

After a while, a little bit more than Booth himself would be willing to wait for a dude in the bathroom, he decided to do something really stupid. He didn't see another way, so, when Narosian walked in, he was tossed in the ground by a very strong punch in his face. While he was still on the ground, Booth took his gun and his walk-talkie. When his vision was clear again, he found himself facing the barrel of his own gun.

"Not my smartest move, but hey, not much choice here."

"You."

"Yeah, me. Surprise, huh?"

"You're not a communist." It wasn't a question. "How did you know?"

"What, to get away? Pff, I'm sure you learned how to get rid of handcuffs."

"That's not what I was going to ask. I meant, how did you know about Welles?" He sounded serious, but Booth couldn't help thinking he was being mocked.

"Excuse me?"

"They just announced. Welles is going to direct "Touch Of Evil". Just like you said."

"Huh." Booth probably could come up with something better and smarter than that, but he couldn't really see where that conversation was going to. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were..."

"From the future." Booth completed. And it was Narosian's time to think about mocking.

"I would say you were just some ordinary guy working for a studio in the wrong place. But you just revealed yourself, didn't you?" Now there was a touch of anger in his voice.

"Did I, now?" Booth saw astonished the guy's anger rise up. He moved back, afraid of losing the gun.

"You come here, straight face, get yourself arrested on propose so you can get away later to take a better look in the place. And now you're mocking my work." His work. That sounded like a good place to start.

"Your work? What, it involves time traveling? You brought us here?" The anger in Narosian's eyes vanished. There was a long pause before he talked again.

"It wasn't a joke, was it?"

"Well, it kind of was. Doesn't make it less truth, though."

"It worked, then. You said us? There's more people here?"

Booth wanted to trust him now. He didn't sound like he planned it. And apparently, he caused it. Maybe he could get them all home. But it wasn't time to let his guard down.

"Tell me 'bout your work."

"I was looking into Professor Einstein's theory. The curved space-time continuum is a brilliant concept, but there's something overlooked. I think that the ether is nothing but a space emptied by those deformations. A tunnel, if you may. And that tunnel, if reached, could lead to any time and space on history. I'm so close to finding the right equation. And when I do, I can get my machine working."

"Okay, all I got from that is that you're trying to build a time machine, but didn't make it so far. And also, you're dead wrong about the last part. It worked, okay? I'm here."

That amazed Narosian "From what year?"

"2011"

He smiled. He looked a bit like a mad scientist, despite his neatness.

"Well, well. 53 years of difference? I think you and your friends have a lot to tell me about."

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><p><strong>I know that I made up most of the stuff about science here. The curved space-time continuum part is truth , and the ether thing is the theory came before it, but I mixed both trying to make something confusing and logical enough. Nailed the first part, I think, and failed in the second. Is quite hard to write sci-fi when you get to the "sci" part of it.<strong>

**Anyway, more reviews would make me very happy! Because I'm just that shameless.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I know it's been a while, but I got sick and the block was huge. It took me forever to get this one done, but since it's also my biggest so far, I feel like I have a good reason. **

**Now, how many disclaimers does one need? Well, here's mine. I don't own Bones.**

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><p>Very few people would know how to answer that question in that situation. Brennan wasn't even in the group of people who knew how to give condolences.<p>

"N... no. I... I was..."

"Okay, Bones, why don't you just, huh, change? If you don't wanna talk about it, hey, my lips are sealed." Booth tried to keep a light tone, but she could see he would press her later. "No one will know. And you," he turned to Zack all of the sudden, like he just realized he was there "You will also keep your mouth shut, 'kay?"

"Okay." Zack had the confused face again. After he left the room, Booth turned to Brennan

"Bones? What's the deal?"

She never felt so helpless in her life. She was facing the unknown. Actually, it was worse than the unknown. She knew what was going on. Somehow, she was jumping from time to time. What she didn't know, however, was the bit that worried her. Brennan had no idea what to do. She didn't know what was making that happen, how that was possible, and the worst, what was going to happen to their own time. They were changing the past. What if computers were never invented because of that little trip? How many things would be different when they got back? _If _they got back.

"I..." She searched her mind for something, and luckily found one; about a week before this, Booth told her a silly story of the time he was in college.

"_Okay Bones, so, I was there, right? All my tests were over, I had a good feeling about my grades, I wanted to have some fun."_

_They were in the dinner. It was lunch time. However, they seemed to be talking more than eating. Not that it was bad. It felt nice. Sure, the food was getting cold, but none of them thought of that as a major problem._

"_So you crashed the party?"_

"_That's right. I crashed a frat party. Cliché, huh? Anyway, I met this girl, she was in one of my classes. We talked a bit and went for a walk."_

"_Oh, is 'walk' an euphemism for coitus?" Booth gave her a very weird look_

"_No. It's not an euphemism, 'walk' is 'walk'."_

"_Well, for what I heard about those 'frat parties', they usually involve a lot of sexual activity."_

"_But I wasn't a frat guy! I just crashed their party!"_

"_For me, it indicates that you wanted to be one of the 'frat guys'."_

"_I didn't, they just had free booze. Can we move forward?"_

"_Sure."_

"_We went for a walk, and passed some creeps dressed like Romans. One of them kind of threw up on her clothes"_

_"That's why you have a picture of a girl dressed like a Roman on your floor?"_

"_I don't have it on my floor, Bones, I told'ya, it fell of a book. I stucked it between the pages."  
><em>

_"Why would you do that?"_

_"We kind of dated later. It was a private joke."_

Brennan knew it was a long shot, and she wasn't sure she could make up enough details to make her story sound logical, but she had to give it a try.

"I, huh, spilled some... something on my clothes and I... had to change it... but I didn't have any spare clothes so... I put this outfit on and was on my way to call someone to pick something for me at my house." The clumsy explanation made Booth smile

"That's why you're acting so weird! No need to be embarrassed, Bones, it can happen. You know what, just put my coat on," He took his gray trench coat and handed it to her "And I'll drive you there, huh?"

"Why do I need to put your coat on?"

"You've got to be joking. Hey, if you wanna walk around the lab in that costume, be my guest."

She decided to stop arguing with him. Another complication appeared in her mind; herself. What would happen if she met herself? It wouldn't be pretty.

But after she crossed the door and raised her head to talk to Booth, he was gone. Everything was gone, really. And boxes were around. She opened one. Military outfits. Was she back to 58? Looked that way. She opened a few more boxes. More of the same outfit she was wearing. Yeah, she was back. But what the hell happened with her in there?

Brennan didn't know what to do, but something made her look inside the room where the Vault would be.

And there it was. The Vault was still there. She could see Booth puzzled, like he didn't know where she'd gone. Mostly because he didn't.

_'It's a wormhole!'_ In a normal situation, that would never be a valid theory for her. Wormholes? But it was the only thing that would fit. A shortcut in space-time. Not that any physicist would think of them as simple as walking through a door, but there it was. A wormhole. And perhaps things would begin to seem more clear to her.

Booth was beginning to realize that the Narosian dude wasn't so bad. Sure, after he was on your side, it was very easy to like him. All the way to Cam's office, they talked. And if things weren't the way they were, Booth would happily have him as a friend. But of course, things were not normal.

Cam was in the platform, looking at the machine. Booth was worried at first, she was too exposed, anyone standing where he was could easily see her. But a few moments later and some steps ahead, he was glad to see she wasn't _that_ exposed. Hodgins appeared out of nowhere, clumsily holding a gun.

"Hey, there! Hodgins, it's me, Booth!" He lowered the gun, with a sight of relief.

"Oh, good. You know, I always thought that holding a gun would be totally cool, but turns out I was wrong. Is not cool. I don't even wanna think what would've happened if you weren't... well, you. Who's he?" Hodgins was now looking at Narosian, with a odd look at his face.

"Jeff Narosian. Now, wait a minute" because Hodgins opened his mouth "I know what I told you, but he _knows. _Apparently, that machine is the reason we got here, and he built it."

"I'd love to explain it to you, Mr Hodgins" Narosian began "But I think we should move. We're too close from the exit. Let's go to the platform." They advanced, and Hodgins called Cam's attention to them.

"Hey, where's Angela?" Booth asked when they were climbing the steps.

"She's in Cam's office. I told her to lay on the couch. Okay, what you have so far?" He said, turning to Cam.

"Who's that?" She echoed Hodgins, pointing at Narosian.

"Jeff Narosian, ma'am." She gently kissed her hand, which shocked her a bit.

"Huh... the guy who thought you were a communist?"

"No. The guy who built this damn thing and pretty much brought us here!" Booth was getting impatient. And where was Bones?

"Now, this is the basic about it." Narosian assumed a serious and grave face "It's a, let's say, a sketch of a machine, that would allow me to study wormholes. I built it, but I saw it would never work."

"Again, you were dead wrong about that. I mean, here we are! That's the thing that pulled us."

"If you keep interrupting me sir, I think it will take a while for me to cover all the subject you need to get the device working again." Narosian said, a bit upset by Booth's constant interruptions.

"But he has a point, you know. We are here, clearly it worked." Cam pointed out "Now, what do you think it could have been? What does it work with?"

"Solar eruptions. I need to work with exotic matter, and I found out that the recent solar eruptions class M were going to release some dark matter."

"But solar eruptions don't do that."

"Yeah, I know, but the radiation I caught with the sensors was made of antimatter. I have no idea why, but there wasn't any annihilation. They were protect by something, and they were coming toward the Solar System. I thought that, since it wasn't affecting any other matter on the way, it wouldn't do anything to the planet, so why not use it on my research?" While that explanation left Cam astonished, Booth just said "Okay, radiation, solar eruptions, device working, we're in 1958... got it. Can you make it work backwards?"

"If you're telling the truth, the laws of physics are..." Cam began.

"Destroyed. I know."

"Can you make it work backwards? So we can go back?" Booth asked in a slightly louder tone.

"Huh..." Narosian thought for a while "If I can figure out what happen, maybe. If not..." He left it in the air, but it was enough for the three to understand.

"So, why don't you and Cam work on that, huh? I'll check on Ange, and maybe you could go after Dr. B." Hodgins said, leaving the platform as fast as possible.

That rang a bell on Booth's head. He thought about the absence of Bones during the explanation, but now it was back on full force. Where was she? They split when the soldier appeared, she went to the Nursery-or at least pretended to-and so far, nothing. He came down the platform and wnet out to look for her.

It didn't took too long. Bones seemed to be moving to the same place he just left. But she was worried. Oh yes. She didn't even see him, and bumped with him despite his efforts to call her attention.

"Booth? What are you doing here?"

"Are you okay? You look worried, you didn't listen to me..."

"I... I think I know why we're here. Wormholes."

"Yeah, that's actually what Narosian said." Brennan put a questioning look on her face "The guy who arrested me, remember? He's the one that built the damn machine, and apparently, he's a squint. He said something about solar eruptions, radiation, antimatter and wormholes." Brennan opened her mouth to talk, now looking alarmed "I can't explain it to you, you better ask him, you two speak the same language. Let's go."

Without pushing him for answers, she let him lead the way. She was astonished by what happened. And a bit scared of what might happen to Booth. She interacted with him. An old him, but still. There was no way they could go back to their own time without messing up with things. It was already too late. They could go back, but it wouldn't be to where they left. But so far, she was just gald he was there. And that he didn't notice the coat she had on.

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><p><strong>I don't have a good feeling about this chapter. It took me so long to write it that I think it's terrible, and I wish I could have talked less about the science part, but I left out as much as I could, mainly because I don't enjoy destroying the work of so many great scientists to suit them to the storya-and I'm a perfectionist-also, because it can get very boring. Oh, and the little flashback, a bit random, but it will make sense later. I hope.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Once again, I didn't like it. But I do have a tendency of selling myself short, so I have to be careful and find what's actually bad and what's being judged by my paranoia only. Just let me know what you think.**

**I don't own Bones (just like always)**

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><p>Narosian rarely got far from the machine for long. He was thrilled at what he did, even if unintentionally. But he knew he had to take those five back. He had the result of the work of his life right in front of him, and he had to give it up.<p>

If he didn't know better, he wouldn't do that. He was struggling with himself inside. He was tempted to keep them in that time. What he could do with the things they knew, that for them was ordinary knowledge, but for him that meant so much! But he couldn't. Forget about his moral code (one of the woman was pregnant, for God's sake!). Every single step those people took was changing their lives in too many ways. And that was the optimistic look. For all he knew, they could go back to a future (was it right to phrase it like that?) in which a nuclear war was happening. An actual nuclear war.

Even though he knew what could happen to the world in general, Narosian couldn't stop thinking about the group that was with him. The guy he found first, Booth, was walking around in circles, very impatient. He gave his trench coat to one of the woman. He claimed she was his partner, a forensic anthropologist, Temperance Brennan. The pregnant woman was Angela Montenegro. He caught a small part of a conversation between she and her husband, Hodgins;

"_I can believe how you're behaving yourself. I thought that if something like this happened, you'd be all over the place, screaming "Conspiracy! Military conspiracy, government conspiracy!" or whatever." She said, trying to change her voice to make it more similar to his. Her failed attempt made her impression more amusing._

"_Well, since I was right about it" Hodgins said in a very exaggerated tone "I should be doing something like that. But I'm worried. Cam, Dr. B and the Narosian dude still don't know what to do to get us back. Besides, they were talking about radiation, antimatter... I'm afraid that we could've been too exposed to it. It would be bad enough if there wasn't another human being inside you." The last thing Narosian saw before moving forward was her scared face._

He pushed it aside. That was the kind of thing he had to ignore. It wasn't on propose. He didn't know what would happen, and he certainly didn't pick anyone to that little trip.

Cam decided to take a break right on the same time Narosian came to her, pretty much jumping.

"I think I found it!"

_'Break can wait'_ she thought, getting up.

"What is it?"

"Those solar eruptions? Here's the chart I wrote last week. I predicted those eruptions, and so far I got it right. Booth said I found him right after the event, and if we assume that everyone was transported at the same time, that would mean the eruption was somewhere around 2:50 AM." In the charts, there was a 2:50 AM in a very nice calligraphy, right beside the date "11/24" and the words "Class M".

"Now, that was the first one. The next is going to happen in..." he looked at the clock. It was about 3 and a half hours since the whole thing began "An hours, more or less."

"An hour?" Cam was surprised. It wasn't enough time.

"Look, there's nothing more to do. One thing only, which should be easy. We need to determine what is the connection."

"Right. We weren't together, so that eliminates environment. Basically, it has to be something we were using or doing. I was on the phone, for example."

"See? That could be it. Gather everyone, we need to make it fast."

Brennan and Booth were in her office. After some thought, she called him and explained what happened to her. She didn't told him about the bit when they met, though. He didn't seem to have a memory of it.

"Why didn't you tell Cam or Narosian? They're the scientists here, not me." He pointed. Brennan thought of that. It was the rational thing to do. But...

"I don't trust that guy. I, _we _can't be sure he's actually helping us. The fact that we're here is huge, and the moment we're gone, all the evidence that he opened a wormhole will be gone, because there's no way to obtain data from it. We didn't even know they were real."

"You could've told Cam."

"Yeah... but..." She didn't want to tell him. But she had to. "There's something else. You were there. You saw me. We talked. That's where the coat came from." Her voice was full of concern, but Booth couldn't see the point.

"So? What's the problem? I..." he stopped. It was like a door opened in his mind. New memories, memories he didn't know he had before, now were crystal clear. He saw Brennan in that same nurse outfit, in the Vault, with Zack, trying to explain herself. He gave her his coat. She disappeared.

"You remember now, don't you?"

"But I..."

"I just created those memories, Booth. That's why I'm afraid. We're creating too many paradoxes."

"Let's, huh, let's keep this to ourselves, 'kay? Paradoxes are bad, right? Does it get worse if we tell people about it?"

"Yes, they will become part of the paradox, and it will keep growing. I don't know what effect it could have on... anything, really, but..."

"So that's it, right? It's our dirty little secret from now on." Just when Booth finished that sentence, the others entered the office.

"We have about half an hour." Narosian began, but Cam took the control of the conversation.

"Were you two talking on the phone?"

"What...? Cam, there's no phone signal here, it's 1958!" said Brennan, in her usual confused tone. Narosian let out a frustrated sigh.

"I think she meant before the... event."

"Oh. Well, I was talking to my editor." Everyone else looked at Booth.

"Yeah, me too. Actually, I wasn't really talking, I got a call and right after I answered it, puff!" He made a gesture with his hand to make a point

"That's the connection, then. I was calling the FBI because of that machine, Hodgins and Angela were both talking to her dad..."

"Wait. Were you two using separated cellphones?" Brennan asked all the sudden

"Yes. I was on my cellphone and Angela was on the phone in her office." Hodgins answered.

"You two think that the only way to get back is to recreate the circumstances of the first time, right?"

"Yes" Narosian now sounded curious.

"But how? We all have our cellphones, but Angela wasn't using one, she was using a regular phone!" That made everyone stand still for a while. Nobody dared to say anything.

"One of us has to stay?" Cam asked at least.

Narosian rarely got far from the machine for long. He was thrilled at what he did, even if unintentionally. But he knew he had to take those five back. He had the result of the work of his life right in front of him, and he had to give it up.

If he didn't know better, he wouldn't do that. He was struggling with himself inside. He was tempted to keep them in that time. What he could do with the things they knew, that for them was ordinary knowledge, but for him that meant so much! But he couldn't. Forget about his moral code (one of the woman was pregnant, for God's sake!). Every single step those people took was changing their lives in too many ways. And that was the optimistic look. For all he knew, they could go back to a future (was it right to phrase it like that?) in which a nuclear war was happening. An actual nuclear war.

Even though he knew what could happen to the world in general, Narosian couldn't stop thinking about the group that was with him. The guy he found first, Booth, was walking around in circles, very impatient. He gave his trench coat to one of the woman. He claimed she was his partner, a forensic anthropologist, Temperance Brennan. The pregnant woman was Angela Montenegro. He caught a small part of a conversation between she and her husband, Hodgins;

"_I can believe how you're behaving yourself. I thought that if something like this happened, you'd be all over the place, screaming "Conspiracy! Military conspiracy, government conspiracy!" or whatever." She said, trying to change her voice to make it more similar to his. Her failed attempt made her impression more amusing._

"_Well, since I was right about that" Hodgins said in a very exaggerated tone "I should be doing something like that. But I'm worried. Cam, Dr. B and the Narosian dude still don't know what to do to get us back. Besides, they were talking about radiation, antimatter... I'm afraid that we could've been too exposed to it. It would be bad enough if there wasn't another human being inside you." The last thing Narosian saw before moving forward was her scared face._

He pushed it aside. That was the kind of thing he had to ignore. It wasn't on propose. He didn't know what would happen, and he certainly didn't pick anyone to that little trip.

Cam decided to take a break right on the same time Narosian came to her, pretty much jumping.

"I think I found it!"  
><em>'Break can wait'<em> she thought, getting up.

"What is it?"  
>"Those solar eruptions? Here's the chart I wrote last week. I predicted those eruptions, and so far I got it right. Booth said I found him right after the event, and if we assume that everyone was transported at the same time, that would mean the eruption was somewhere around 2:50 AM." In the charts, there was a 2:50 AM in a very nice calligraphy, right beside the date "1124" and the words "Class M".

"Now, that was the first one. The next is going to happen in..." he looked at the clock. It was about 3 and a half hours since the whole thing began "An hours, more or less."

"An hour?" Cam was surprised. It wasn't enough time.

"Look, there's nothing more to do. One thing only, which should be easy. We need to determine what is the connection"  
>"Right. We weren't together, so that eliminates environment. Basically, it has to be something we were using or doing. I was on the phone, for example."<p>

"See? That could be it. Gather everyone, we need to make it fast."

Brennan and Booth were in her office. After some thought, she called him and explained what happened to her. She didn't told him about the bit when they met, though. He didn't seem to have a memory of it.

"Why didn't you tell Cam or Narosian? They're the scientists here, not me." He pointed. Brennan thought of that. It was the rational thing to do. But...

"I don't trust that guy. I, _we _can't be sure he's actually helping us. The fact that we're here is huge, and the moment we're gone, all the evidence that he opened a wormhole will be gone, because there's no way to obtain data from it. We didn't even know they were real."  
>"You could've told Cam."<p>

"Yeah... but..." She didn't want to tell him. But she had to. "There's something else. You were there. You saw me. We talked. That's where the coat came from." Her voice was full of concern, but Booth couldn't see the point.

"So? What's the problem? I..." he stopped. It was like a door opened in his mind. New memories, memories he didn't know he had before, now were crystal clear. He saw Brennan in that same nurse outfit, in the Vault, with Zack, trying to explain herself. He gave her his coat. She disappeared.

"You remember now, don't you?"

"But I..."

"I just created those memories, Booth. That's why I'm afraid. We're creating too many paradoxes."

"Let's, huh, let's keep this to ourselves, 'kay? Paradoxes are bad, right? Does it get worse if we tell people about it?"

"Yes, they will become part of the paradox, and it will keep growing. I don't know what effect it could have on... anything, really, but..."

"So that's it, right? It's our dirty little secret from now on." Just when Booth finished that sentence, the others entered the office.

"We have about half an hour." Narosian began, but Cam took the control of the conversation.

"Were you two talking on the phone?"

"What...? Cam there's no phone signal here, it's 1958!" said Brennan, in her usual confused tone. Narosian let out a frustrated sigh.

"I think she meant before the... event."

"Oh. Well, I was talking to my editor." Everyone else looked at Booth.

"Yeah, me too. Actually, I wasn't really talking, I got a call and right after I answered it, puff!" He made a gesture with his hand to make a point

"That's the connection, then. I was calling the FBI because of that machine, Hodgins and Angela were both talking to her dad..."

"Wait. Were you two using separated cellphones?" Brennan asked all the sudden

"Yes. I was on my cellphone and Angela was on the phone in her office." Hodgins answered.

"You two think that the only way to get back is to recreate the circumstances of the first time, right?"

"Yes" Narosian now sounded curious.

"But how? We all have our cellphones, but Angela wasn't using one, she was using a regular phone!" That made everyone stand still for a while. Nobody dared to say anything.

"One of us has to stay?" Cam asked at least.

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><p><strong>Like I said (or wrote) in the beginning, please, let me know what you think. Is quite easy to do so :)<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**My self-esteeme must be the lowest possible, or maybe I'm too perfeccionist (is this the right spelling?), because lately I don't like anything I write. And I feel like Brennan is a bit OOC in this.**

**Anyway. Bones is not mine.**

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><p>That was a problem. Obvious. Narosian eventually suggested that, maybe they could make it work using one of the phones they had there. But the problem is that the phones were in a room in the other side of the building. Before there was any other argument, Booth slipped his cellphone inside Angela's jacket and pulled Narosian to the side, away from everyone.<p>

"Do you think it could work?" Booth asked. Narosian wondered for a moment before answering.

"Theoretically, yes. Those devices you claim to be phones they're so new to me..." Booth made a face to that "I don't feel safe enough to work on something about it, but since your friend says that she was using an actual phone, I don't see why it wouldn't work."

"Okay." He wasn't convinced at all, but it was the only chance they had "Can you get me to the phones?"

"You're giving Ms. Montenegro your phone?"

"Kind of did already." That was the moment they realized they weren't alone. Brennan couldn't help herself.

"Booth..."

"Look, Bones, don't go there, okay? I'm the one that should do this, you know it." For his surprise, she just nodded and said

"I'm going with you then." He remembered what she said about Narosian; she didn't trust him,a dn gave him enough reasons not to. But again, only chance.

Narosian was trying to convince the guards to take a little break. They were very close now. Brennan couldn't bear the silence anymore, so she started talking

"Booth... are you sure about this?"

"No."

"Then why?" He laughed with no humor

"C'mon Bones, it's obvious... I have to do this."

"But what about Hank, Parker?" She found the soft spot. He was trying not to think about that now. It was something to worry about later if it didn't work. But he did need to do something.

"Bones... if it doesn't work, try to explain Parker, 'kay? Not about the wormhole and stuff, but..." he didn't finish, but she understood

"Sure." She held his gaze. It could be the last one. She tried to push that aside.

Narosian was back all of the sudden, and had urgency in his voice.

"Let's go, it's almost time." The broke the look, and without saying anything moved forward.

The room had nothing but some old-fashion telephones. Booth couldn't help to cheer up a bit. He really liked those. There were some beautiful ones there. Narosian touched his shoulder and he turned.

"I'll go outside, try to stop if someone tries to walk in. Good luck, man." He offered his hand and Booth shook it. He turned to Brennan "Ma'am." He offered his hand to her as well. She hesitated a bit, but she shook it.

"Goodbye, Ms. Brennan."

"Is 'Doctor'." she said without even changing her expression. He smiled a bit and went outside.

"How long, Bones?"

"Just a few minutes." After 15 seconds of silence, Booth opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped when he noticed the phone right beside Brennan. It was the same one Hannah got him-although he knew that Brennan was the one that suggested it. If not the exactly the same, it was very similar. That coincidence nearly broke him.

"Booth?"

"Is just like when I was on my way to Afghanistan, you know? I kept thinking... there was a chance I was never going back. That I was gonna leave everything behind forever. Parker, pops, you, the guys from the Jeffersonian... and here am I again!" he laughed in that humorless way again.

Brennan had no idea of what to do. She just moved closer to him and gave him a quick kiss on his lips.

Right after, the phone rang. It was _that_ one. Making no comment of what just happened, he answered it.

"Hello?" No one was on the other side of the line. But the other phones were gone. The only one left was the one Booth had in his hands. It wasn't even connected.

Brennan opened the door carefully. They weren't in 1958 anymore, but there was no way to know the year. It was dark, so after seeing that no one was in the hallway, she called Booth and they both went outside.

They made their way back to the offices. The building was still the Jeffersonian, but now it was just empty. Brennan concluded that they were somewhere after the 90's, since computers were quite ordinary in the rooms they passed. _'Maybe we got it right.'_

Before they could enter the platform, Cam, Hodgins and Angela were with them.

"The machine is still there." was the first thing Cam said.

"Hi, is good to see you made it too." Booth said playfully. Neither he or Brennan tried to talk all the way over there, and he was glad to hear someone's voice. Angela hugged him.

"Glad to see you made it!"

"Yeah, having you stuck in 1958, not cool." Hodgins said, uncomfortable. He wanted to say something, but didn't know what. He never knew what to say in these situations.

"Yeah, well, it didn't happen. Does anybody knows what time is it?" Everyone checked their watches for the first time since the whole mess began. None of them was working.

"I don't need a watch to know that it's late, and that everyone thinks we're missing." Brennan said

"I thought that too, but why is this place empty? Forget about us missing, there are no guards, no scientists staying through the night... this place is never quite!" When Angela finished, they realized she was right. It was all too quite.

They moved to Brennan's office. The first thing she did was turning on the computer, which made the others give her some very funny looks.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She inquired.

"Well, it's odd... I mean, look at what we've been through, and you just turn on the computer!" Booth said, like that explained everything, but for Brennan, that didn't have any logic.

"You're not suggesting that we just go out, are you?" Now it was Booth's time to be confused, but Cam and Hodgins began to show some signals of understanding.

"The Butterfly Effect." Cam said in a whisper.

"In a normal situation, I'd ask if you were talking about the movie, but I have a feeling you're not... although... you don't really think it happened to us, right?" _Angela joined the squints club for good_, Booth thought. Now he was the only one without a clue of what was going on.

"Butterfly effect, I know what that is. 'Butterfly wings can cause hurricanes' and stuff, right?"

"That's a very good allegory of it, actually. Our trip to the past could've changed so many things, in so many ways... and whatever it was that we did, we'll never know." Brennan's voice was surprisingly weak "But we will know what those actions did."

"We're in an alternative time line." Cam tried to explain "In our own time line, some things happened in 1958 that made the world that we know today. It can be very little things, like breaking a vase, or something huge, like destroying a atomic bomb ready to go against a communist country. But when we went back, we changed things. And those changes created another time line, in which the world is a different place. Again, huge stuff, little stuff... things changed."

"And we need to be careful." Hodgins completed "You never know what the government will do with time travelers like us. I mean, they can't just have someone going back in time and messing up with the present, right? We might get killed or something!" Clearly, Hodgins was back to his paranoid form.

"As much as I don't want to agree with the freak here, he's got a point. We can't tell a soul about this." Booth remarked

"Of course not." Brennan replied "And since you all agree that we can't let anyone know about this, I'll go back to my original plan. I want to see if there's anything too different." The computer was completely on now. She sat down and accessed the internet.

"Well, look at the first thing that changed. Apple and Windows are one thing here." Hodgins said with a hint of irony in his tone.

"Google looks different too." Cam pointed when the site's home-page appeared.

"Okay... why don't we all shut up for a moment?" Booth suggested. Everyone agreed.

Brennan and Booth were alone in his car. Pocking around the net didn't get them much. Aside some differences in the technology area, things were quite the same. But according to Cam, that wasn't very good.

"That could mean that the biggest effects were on things connected to our lives; we are in the center of the mess, after all." So, everyone just decided to go home and try to figure out what was different. Booth offered Brennan a ride, and there they were.

The silence was almost unbearable. Since the kiss she gave him, they didn't talk much. It was getting more awkward every second. After 15 more minutes, Booth decided he needed to say something. What came of his mouth wasn't what he planned, though.

"Okay, Bones, what's going on?"

"What?"

"We're barely looking at each other! Look, if you want to ignore... that, fine, we've done it before. We can do it again." In the second the words came out, he saw the hurt on her face.

"I don't want to do that." she said quietly "What I said that day..." she didn't need to say it, they both knew what she meant "I did regret saying no to you that day. That's why I kissed you." They stayed in silence for a moment, and then she continued "It was weird. Everything seemed so normal... there were plenty of times when I thought you'd never come back, but those times, things were happening, it was tense... but that... nothing was wrong."

"Nothing was wrong...? Bones, we _were_ in 1958. That's very wrong." She actually smiled at his stupid comment.

"You know what I mean. I just, if it didn't work, it would be too late, and that was the only thing..." Brennan didn't finished it. She just stared at the car window. He drove.

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><p><strong>Reviews? Please?<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay. I began writing this right after I finished last chapter, but then Season Finales came along. I've been through a couple so far, and I hate them. September is SO far. That means I am empty. I have a really hard time with any kind of ending, so I struggled myself through this little piece. If I'm lucky, in the middle of next week I'll be better.**

**Well, enough of my crazy thing against finales. I don't own Bones, otherwise I would already know what the hell happened between B&B that night. And I don't.**

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><p>It was afternoon. Brennan had no idea of how tired she was. When she got up to grab some food, the room spun a bit. That was odd. Was she sick? Did she have a fever or something? But aside the sudden dizziness, she felt just fine.<p>

After she opened the door to her apartment, she simply fell on the couch. But now it was time to have a look around, see if there was anything different. Well, the couch was in the wrong place. Funny she didn't see it. She must've been really tired to miss something like that. But what else was different?

Not much in the living room. Just some albums that she didn't remember buying. It wasn't so bad. She moved to the kitchen. Some stuff were out of place, but that was normal. Next. Bathroom. Different brand of shampoo. That was it?

She was expecting so much more. But the changes were so... insignificant. They wouldn't be much of a difficulty for her.

Bedroom. Okay. Maybe that was a bit bigger. Not some life-changing thing, but it was different enough to be worrying. She had a shelf full of DVDs. So many of them. She didn't care much for movies or TV shows. The only kind of entertainment she liked that most people would consider normal was music. So, that shelf was something. She was quite different in this time-line.

But, '_so what?' _She thought. '_Everyone I would talk about such trivial things know what happened. It won't be a problem.'_

_'Right?'_

_'Right?'_

She was expecting an answer. She knew it was silly; how could anyone answer her?

Yet, there she was. Expecting an answer that would only come next morning.


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm better now. Well, sort of. What the hell was that finale? I can't believe they dared to do THAT. I'm still shocked. One hell of a cliffhanger there.**

**Anyway. I don't know if this is long, or what. But I'm keeping track of the plot, and no crazy theories in this one, so...**

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><p>Booth spent most of the week trying to understand his new life. Things did change. Cam's old boyfriend, the dentist, was alive. It was very harsh for her, because that meant Michele wasn't with her. She was struggling to understand she didn't have a daughter anymore. Booth was worried sick about her.<p>

Not all changes were bad. Zack, for instance, didn't have anything to do with Gormagon. The kid still worked in the Jeffersonian, lived with Hodgins and everything. The squinterns were all the same. But most of their work was with Zack.

Hodgins and Angela were married. For almost four years. That first time they were engaged, well, let's just say "Berimbau" never crossed Angela's path. Luckily, she was pregnant in this time-line, otherwise things would be very complicated.

Brennan called him in the morning after. When he got to her apartment, he was quite surprised. That collection of DVD was impressive.

"_Wow, look at this!" he said with a comic enthusiasm in his voice "You've got every single possible sci-fi in here! Star Wars, X Files...__"_

"_I never bought any of those." she pointed "I don't even know what is Star Wars."_

"_Please be joking."_

"_That's not the point. The point is, the biggest change I found in the apartment was this. What does it mean?"_

_"That you're a Hollywood/TV addicted."_

"_But I'm not!"_

"_In here, you are. C'mon, is not the end of the world. You just have to watch everything in this shelf..." he grinned "Want company?"_

"_Booth, if I enjoy television and cinema this much, I must know something about it. But I don't. What if people notice something is wrong? What if they found out what happened?"_

_"Yeah, because when people are different one day, the first thing that jumps to mind is 'time travel'." She noticed his sarcasm and stared at him. He sighted. She had a point, but it wasn't as bad as she thought. Right?_

"_Look, just, for a while, try not to talk much. Pretend that, I don't know, a relative or an old friend died. Look depressed. No one will get too close. That way, we'll have time to figure everything out."_

_She didn't look very convinced, but nodded. After a moment, she asked:_

_"So, is everything okay? Is Parker...?"_

"_Yeah. He's there. Different haircut, but hey, when you think it through..."_

"_So what changed for you?"_

_He thought about that. His place had some stuff he didn't recognized, but if Cam was right, it was expected. Nothing too big, really._

"_I don't know. Hope I still have a job, because my personal life seems the same so far."_

He was almost leaving when he found a photograph on the floor. When he turned, his stomach turned.

It was a picture. A blond girl dressed in a roman suit. He remembered the story he told Brennan. But the girl wasn't the same. And he realized what was the change in his life.

_Hannah._

How? How could that be possible? Hannah and that girl had nothing to do with each other. And now, they were the same people. He found himself asking the same question Brennan asked a week ago: _"What does it mean?"_

The phone rang. One time. Two times. Three times. He answered. It was the same one he answered to get back to his time. The same Hannah got him.

"Hey, you." It had to be a joke. It was Hannah. What was going on? Her tone seemed normal. No awkwardness, nothing. Just a normal phone call. Did he broke up with her? Or they never even dated? Or maybe were just friends now.

"I must be going back this weekend, do you wanna grab some dinner after I get home?" No clue. No way to know if she was talking to her friend or to her boyfriend. _'Help.'_

"Huh... sure. Wanna do something else after?" There. Whatever her answer was, it would give him the information he needed. Hannah wasn't the type that hided her libido. If they were dating and she was gone for over a week, she wouldn't be subtle about her plans.

"We can work something out when I'm there, no need to decide it just now."

"Okay." he said, trying to hide the relief in his voice. Friends. Then something crossed his mind "Are you mad because I didn't call all week?" Somehow, that got a laughter.

"Stop worrying about that, Seeley. I told you, I'm the one that calls you. I do not need you interrupting my work, and that's probably what your calls will do, my schedule is insane. I only got some free time, well, now! And I'm using it to talk to you, so you better be flattered." she finished in a playful tone.

"I do. Huh, look, Hannah, I need to go now, or I'll be late for work. So..."

"Right, sorry. Around here is afternoon, telling you, it's insane. Talk later, 'kay?"

"Bye."

"Bye."

Well, it wasn't so bad. He would have to figure out how to deal with his anger, and find out their history, but at least he wouldn't have to break up with her. He knew for sure now that he didn't want to be with her. But friends, he could do friends.

"Bones."

"Hey, Booth." The week was weird for both of them. The kiss wasn't brought up by any of them, and it was a very big elephant in the room. But they kept it under control.

"I know what changed." Brennan didn't need more than that

"What?"

"Hannah." he said without looking at her, but somehow sensed her look. She was hurt.

"You never broke up with her?" She intended to ask if they were engaged, but decided to go slow.

"Do you remember that story about the photo?"

"Are you trying to change the subject?"

"No. Do you...?"

"Remember it? Yes, I do."

"Hannah is that girl. And we're friends, that's all I know. She's somewhere... and she's coming back this weekend." He leaned back in the couch in her office. "I don't know."

Brennan wanted to say she had no idea what he meant, but she decided to leave it. Instead, she said:

"I think I found out something else."

"What?"

"I don't think my mom is dead." That got Booth jumping from the couch.

"Really?"

"I don't know. But the files of her case aren't here. I looked for them. And Zack doesn't remember anything about that."

"You're gonna look for her?" She opened her mouth to answer, but at that moment Zack came in.

"Doctor Brennan... am I interrupting something?" He asked, with a anxious look.

"No. What is it? Did you find anything on the skeleton?"

"I gave it to Mr. Clark. I wanted to work on a project of mine, and that's actually why I'm here. I want your opinion on it." He stood there, like he was waiting to hear his death sentence.

"Sure, I'll go. Do you want to catch lunch later?" She said to Booth.

"Sure. See'ya." They parted ways right outside the office.

Brennan didn't know where they were. She couldn't remember that part of the lab. Zack was nervous. He kept talking about random things all the way. But one thing in particular caught her attention.

"I was a little reckless a week ago, I was very exhausted, you see. I just wanted to go home, and I thought I could just get back here earlier and put it away. So I just left it in the platform. I see now that it was a mistake, because someone tempered with it."

A week ago? Something in the platform? Could it be...

"It's right here, Doctor Brennan."

He opened the door. And there it was. The damn machine.

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><p><strong>The story about the machine must take about 4 or 5 chapter just for itself. So, in order to make the whole thing clear (because it's all in my mind, a very bad place to be), the updates will take a while. But I'm fairly sure there will be fillers, because I so intend to put Brennan and Booth as couple and to get rid of Hannah eventually, and it has nothing to do with the main plot. Those will be faster.<strong>

**Reviews?;)**

**And happy Towel Day! (if you know what that is)**


	10. Chapter 10

**So, thanks to my writing assignments at school, I was totally blocked for a while. But somehow, that got me my longest chapter so far, so, kind of an excuse for the lack of updates. I know, that makes so much sense. **

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><p>"Zack" she measured her words and her tone carefully. Zack wasn't good with people, but he wasn't dumb. She knew how messy things could get if he discovered anything. Well, actually, she had no idea of what would happen. But she knew it would be bad, and that was enough.<p>

"What is this?"

"Remember when you interviewed me for the internship job? I told you how much I liked the concept of wormholes. And after you hired those students to help us with the work, I got more free time, and I started to work on this machine. It doesn't really have a name, but I was trying to create a wormhole." Even though Brennan knew he made it, she couldn't help but laugh at the way he said it, like it was as simple as writing an essay.

"Zack, we're years away from that kind of technology, how could you think you'd make it?" Secretly, she was thinking '_Well, he DID do it'_.

"Remember when I went away to the war?" Zack lowered his voice "Well, I didn't go to war. The government sort of hired me to help in a project they called "Brand New World", although we usually referred to it as the 'Sci-Fi Project'."

"Sci-Fi Project?"  
>"Yeah. You see, the things we were trying to reach there were so advanced that people think of them as science fiction. Telekinesis, mind readers, among other things. I was working on the Time Travel Section."<p>

What Zack was telling her was unbelievable. Yet, it made perfect sense. She still had some doubts, but they faded when he said:  
>"The project began here at the Jeffersonian, actually. It was in the hands of the Army." his face was acquiring a very weird expression. Whatever he said, Brennan could tell it wasn't good. He went through some bad thinks there, things that haunted him.<p>

"The whole story of this place... it's a lie. The cover-up they made up was huge. Is not named after Thomas Jefferson like everybody thinks, and is not even old. It was built in the 40's, and they named it after some guy, who made a huge break through. It was a fairly amazing coincidence his name was Jeff." Those last words were like a punch in her stomach. _'WHAT?'_

"Jeff? As in Jeff Narosian?"

"Yes." If he was surprised she knew that name, he didn't let it show. He just continued "Is funny, really. His name is like an anagram to Jeffersonian. See, you take his first name, Jeff, the inicial of his middle name, Edmund" he took a pen and a piece of paper and wrote 'Jeff E. Narosian' on it. "And his last name, if you arrange it like this..." he showed her how the letters were the same "See? Jeffersonian." he chuckled "It's very amusing."

"You do realize there's an A left, right?"

"Of course. My colleagues said it stands for 'Army'. The soldiers thought of the project as a weapon. They referred to it as the Jeffersonian Army, or Jeffersonian A., since they couldn't let people know what was happening. And that's how they built the reputation of the place."

That was too much. Later, she would search for something on that direction. Nothing concrete, but the stories about 'Jeffersonian A.' were too many to ignore.

"Huh, so..." she hoped her voice was coming out normal. It wasn't. "What was this place?"  
>"The beginning of the Brand New Word. The first experiments were performed here. They moved around 1958, when there was a huge security break and Narosian made the project move elsewhere. That elsewhere, as I learned later, became famous for too many lights in the sky, that people believed to be UFO's. There was no such thing in Area 51, I guarantee."<p>

1958. They were the security break.

The mention of Area 51 was too much for her. Even she knew the stories about that place, even though she never believed it. But it was time to take that story to someone else.

"Zack, I have to go."  
>"Wait. I talked too much, and I didn't even told you what I really wanted to."<p>

"Make it quick, then."

He paused. He was fidgeting, which was odd. He never did that, although you'd think someone like him would do it a lot.

"Zack!"

"Okay. I think it worked."

"What do you mean?" She asked, her eyes growing wild. His next words came out in a rapid flux, unstoppable.

"I told you I was working on the Time Travel Section, and our main gold there was wormholes. I didn't get much more then they already had, so they sent me back. But the only reason I didn't get anything was because they wanted me to do some things that... I couldn't. I wanted to go in a different direction, but they wouldn't let me. I knew I was right, so I began working on it when I got back. I used the information I got there, and I built this. Last week, well. It worked. It created a wormhole." now he was looking like a lost little kid "What do I do? This is huge. But I don't really have any proof, and I wasn't even suppose to tell anyone about it..."

"Keep it to yourself." Brennan said, in a harsher tone she intended "Don't mention it to anyone."

"Is there something wrong, Doctor Brennan?" he didn't miss the change in her voice. And he clearly saw that those things were getting to her.

"Sorry, I... I didn't get much sleep this week." she lied, and not very well. With that, she nearly fled from the room.

Sure, it wasn't really a lie; sleep seemed to run away from her like she had the plague. She stayed most of last night thinking of her mother's case (or lack of it). She ad no idea, but it would be some of the things she'd figure out later. Her dad was still in jail, this time for the bank assaults. His penalty was very big, he still had 15 years ahead of him, no chance of parole. Her mom was a justice fugitive, she was on the run for a long time. She even had the OTAN after her (it wasn't without surprise that she found out the Interpol and the OTAN were pretty much the same thing). But she was alive. And in touch with her. In her closet there was a box filled with letters from her. She couldn't risk using computers or telephones, so letters were the best way to communicate.

Once she heard Sweets saying how personality was shaped by our experiences. She never closed up, because their parents were always there (as much as they could anyway). She didn't accidentally found the remain of her mother, because she was still alive. For some reason, she was crazy about movies. She wasn't the same person at all. And she couldn't hide the fact that someone else entirely different was there.

Without noticing, she opened the door to Angela's office. She was lying on the couch, but tried to get up as soon as she saw her friend's face.

"Bren? Are you all right? Did something happen...?"

"Not really... I... I need to talk. To everyone, can you get Hodgins and Cam in my office? I'll have Booth here in 15 minutes."  
>"Sweetie. What happened?"<p>

Brennan paused, looking defeated. Angela knew that look. That was the time to push a little harder.

"We're gonna meet everyone, you'll spill out whatever you discovered, and then we're talking about the other things in your mind, okay? No discussion." Brennan smiled. A weak, tired smile, but still. It was better than nothing.

"Go call Booth."

"So, basically, Zack did this?" It was hard for Booth to believe. He knew the kid was smart, but a time machine?

"I don't know." Brennan answered. "Those things he told me about that Brand New World Project, it sounds a little too surreal. If I didn't know better..."

"I knew the government was up to something." So far, that was the only insight Hodgins could provide.

"But how? If Zack built it, how did Narosian get it?" Cam questioned "And why us? And..." she let out a heavy sight "We've got too many questions. We're not getting anywhere."

"Do we have any chance of making thinks go back to normal?" Angela inquired.

That was the question everyone was avoiding but everyone wanted an answer for. Is not that this new life wasn't good. It had good sides and bad sides, like every life they could possibly hope for. But it wasn't theirs.

"I don't think so." Cam answered in a low tone "The Butterfly Effect is too subtle to try to control it. Besides, this is new territory... for all I know, we could be talking about multiple universes."  
>"What now?" That was it. He was gonna have to give up any chance on trying to follow their theories.<p>

"Instead of just changing our time-line, maybe we created a new universe. You see, so..."

"Okay, stop there." Booth interrupted "I'm fairly sure that you could explain those stuff for me some time, when I'm relaxed, focused and not worried. But right now? I wanna know if something bad will come out of this."

"What do you mean?" Hodgins said. The first thing without the words 'government' or 'conspiracy' in a while.

"For what I got from Back To The Future, changing our lives like that have consequences. And we proved it right. But I can't believe that those changes won't be bigger. I mean, just some random facts in our lives?"

"You're right, you know." Brennan had this thoughtful look in her eyes "It took humanity centuries to find a way to create wormholes, and there must be a consequence for that. Is like the atomic bomb; there's a big price to pay."  
>The conversation didn't go for much longer after it. When they parted ways, Angela said:<br>"Hey, don't forget I'll be at your place tonight. I can't drink, but I still have room for tons of ice-cream."  
>"It's impossible for one to have a stomach big enough for that amount of..." Angela gave her an amused look "Oh. Sure."<p>

Angela chuckled and left.

Right after it, the phone in her desk rang. She picked up.

"So, Bren. Miss me already?"' That line was shocking in so many ways. First of all, 'Bren'?

"Ha... Hannah?" she stuttered

"Of course! Who else? Sorry I didn't call sooner, after I called Seeley I tried to reach you, but right after I hung up, my boss called me again, with a huge headline... which later turned out to be nothing."

"Oh." That's all she managed to say. She didn't know how she felt about Hannah. She didn't know how she felt when Booth introduced her as his new girlfriend and had no idea how she felt about her now they were just friends. Hannah tried to befriend her, but it didn't work. Brennan did her best acting job ever. She faked all the way through; smiles, affection, hugs... considering her lack of knowledge when it came to human interaction, she did a fine job.

"Well, how are things holding up there?"

"I'm not holding anything." That earned a laugh.

"Funny. what's new there? Have you two told anyone?"

"What? Who told what to who?"

"Don't play dumb, Bren." There it was again. '_Don't call me Bren!'_, she thought angry, but didn't say it out loud.

"You and Seeley? Seriously, you know you'll have to tell them eventually. You can't just keep it a secret and tell them when you're in labor."

"Labor? Wha... you think I'm pregnant?" That came out a little higher and louder than she intended, but she had a reason. Hannah laughed again.

"I didn't actually mean that... you know what? Never mind. I'll be blunt: you have to tell people you're together." '_WHAT?_' "I know playing them must be very fun and entertaining and everything, but you have to draw a line sometime."

Too much. Too damn much. Too fucking much.

"Hannah, I..." That didn't have any effect. Hannah just kept talking; it looked like she didn't have a good talk in a while.

"No arguing. When I'm back, we're having a movie night, and I'll talk some sense into your head. Better, I'll just call Angela and tell her, no doubt the whole lab will know everything in short time." she didn't mean that as an insult to Angela, but that's how Brennan saw it. The anger was rising up, and she wasn't sure she could keep it away from her voice.

"Hey? Are you there yet? I know it's a very hard topic for you, but you seem awfully quite."

"I'm just... I don't know. I guess I'm tired, I'm not thinking straight."

"Insomnia?" What was wrong with her? Every little thing Hannah said made her angry. That was wrong. It wasn't Hannah's fault. Especially in this universe.

"Yes." It was the truth, after all. Nightmares. Very nasty nightmares found their way into her head.

"Did I wake you up? Please tell me I didn't wake you up!" She sounded genuinely concerned.

"No... don't worry."

"Clearly you're not in a talky mood, so I'll just go. Oh, wait. Almost forgot. I saw that movie you wanted here. Did you buy it already? Tell me you didn't, because I need to get you a present and I'm out of ideas. Seems like you already have every possible movie in that shelf of yours."

"That's impossible. There are plenty of movies that..."

"Wow, you're awfully literal today. Just yes or no, then. Did you buy it?" Not knowing what to say, she gave what she was sure to be the worst answer.

"No, I didn't."

"Great. Open some space in your shelf, because it's about to gain another piece for you to be jealous of. Talk later?"

"Huh... okay." She hung up as quickly as possible.

There was a great deal of information on that talk. The thing about her shelf, just to mention one. But really, the only thing she could think of was the fact that she and Booth were a couple. And Hannah knew. And she seemed very eager to tell everyone about.

_'Could it get any more complicated_?'

Her eyes fell on her calendar. And she saw that yes, things could get more complicated. She had circled every Friday of the month and wrote 'Sweets-15:00'.

She and Booth still had to see Sweets. Why? It didn't matter much. But if someone could break them about this whole mess, that was Sweets.

However, she picked up the phone and called Booth to let him know.

* * *

><p><strong>While I was writing this, I realized Sweets was AWOL from this story, so I'll try my best to fix that in the next chapter (that won't take so long to show up). I really like him, he's a bit like Shakespeare's Fools; they tell the truth no one wants to face, and I wish the show would come back with Brennan and Booth's appointments, they were so funny :)<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm not happy with this chapter. I tried to rewrite it, but for reasons only my brain knows, as much as I didn't like it, it was the best out of all my other three pieces. Go figure. But I hope 'the talk' was realistic enough. I have a huge time writing that kind of stuff, because I'm worse at that kind of thing then Brennan and Zack altogether. For real.**

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><p>"Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth."<p>

Both Booth and Brennan knew it would be hard. They often joked about how young Sweets was, but the truth is, he was a incredibly smart and perceptive guy, so they walked inside his office prepared to get caught.

The office was pretty much the same. The couch, the kid, the chair. _'At least that!' _Booth thought. They sat, and for a moment everything felt just like it used to. Until Sweets opened his mouth.

"Are you still going to play dumb?"

"About...?" Booth inquired, genuinely confused. Sweets usually had some topic he wanted to discuss with them, and he would open the section with it, trying to get them to open up. But this was a new approach.

"So you are going to play dumb, huh?" he made it sound like he was expecting it "Look, guys." he leaned toward them "I know. Okay? I'm not gonna tell your boss." he said to Booth "You won't get in any kind of trouble if I can help."

"Dr. Sweets, what are you talking about?" Brennan asked

"Fine!" he replied, exasperated. "Keep your little act. But don't expect me to believe that you're not a couple. Because I _know _you are!"

Booth's shock was all over his face, but when he turned to Brennan, he was even more shocked to realized she wasn't surprised. She looked almost... resigned. She knew it?

She turned her eyes and met his. And he realized that her feelings were a riot, just like his own. They locked their gaze, all of the sudden forgetting where they were.

"I'm happy for you, but I hope you realize you don't have to hide it." Sweets continued, but stopping when he realized the little interaction in front of him. He smiled.

"You're really gonna lie to me now? Come on. I may be young, but I'm not stupid."

"You're twelve." Booth broke the contact, like he was now aware of the third person on the room. But what usually met a eye roll or a stare, now got a comeback.

"Considering I used to be five, I guess it's a improvement." Before Booth could reply, Brennan's phone rang.

"No, no... no phones!" Sweets tried, but she answered it anyway. It was Angela.

"Hey, Sweetie, I went to your office and I saw your appointment on the calendar. I wish I called sooner, because the Sweets I know is the perfect candidate to figure this whole mess out. Don't know about this one, but..."

"Actually, you're right. He could." she saw the question in Booth's eyes, but they had a chance of getting out, and she couldn't spoil it.

"So, tell him, I don't know, something happened and... Cam, she's... calling you two and... asking you to come over." Angela finished it with some difficulty. That wasn't missed on Brennan.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, just... tired. So, you think you're getting out?"

"Yes, we'll be there. Bye." She turned to Booth. "Cam wants to talk to us, she found something."

"Great." They got up, but Sweets tried to stop them.

"Wait! I'm sure you can stay. Maybe we can talk about this case. I know children are always hard..." but they were already out.

"So, did Cam said what she have for us?" Booth asked, already in the car.

"Cam didn't call."

"But you said..."

"Angela. She thought that Sweets could figure it out."

"Well, that makes three of us, right?" They stayed in silence for a while

"What he said..." Brennan began "About us. Did I mention I talked to Hannah?"

"What? You talked to Han... and what does it have to do with Sweets?"

"She mentioned it too. She said something about us being a couple and for some reason, she thinks I'm pregnant..."

"She thinks what?"

"I'm not pregnant, I have no idea why she said it! But first her, and now Sweets..."

"So, in this world, we're like... a couple?" His voice sounded tense and cautious.

"A secret one, but yes." he said nothing. After a while, she asked, hesitant "Would it be that bad?"  
>"What? Why do you say that?"<p>

"Well, you didn't sound very happy about it."

"Bones..."

"Look, I know you're angry. Is a good thing that it was a secret, because we don't need to pass through anything too awkward..."

"Bones!" he called. He tightened his grip in the wheel and took a deep breath before answering "I'm not... I'm not angry anymore. I don't think I was angry in the first place. That day... I was a mess. It was a moment thing."

"So...?"

"So, I didn't say anything after it because of the same reason it took me so long to come clean with you."

"Come clean?" he couldn't help but to laugh a bit. She was still herself, despite everything.

"Yeah, come clean. You know, tell the truth. Open up. And, I wanted to do it for a long time, but I was scared. I was scared you'd reject me."

"And I did." she said in a low voice.

"Yeah... no wonder I didn't want to risk again. After that case, when you told me... you know. You were crying and, I really wanted to _do _something, but I was scared you would change your mind again, and I was with Hannah... I kind of froze."

"But what changed now?"

"Well, for one thing, we got ourselves in a freaking Douglas Adams book, minus the humor."

"Who?"

"Doesn't matter. My point is, everything changed. And Sweets begins to talk about all those stuff about us being together, and you kissed me, and..." he sighted "I guess is too much to keep inside, you know?"

"Actually, I do." she said with a half smile

"Why are you smiling?"

"I don't know..." the half smile turned into a huge grin.

"What? Come on!" he asked, beginning to smile too "You say everything has a reason, what's yours now?"

"You said everything changed. But not everything changed." she pointed.

"This is the time you say something about gravity or bones, right?"

"Those are rather random and unrelated topics of conversation."

"Well, is the kind of stuff you say, y'know?"

"Nor really, no."

They stopped talking, and remained in silence for a while. The traffic was really bad, and they were stuck for a while. It was almost like they didn't have that talk at all, until Booth brought it up again.

"Let's do something, okay?"

"What?" Brennan asked, curious.

"We start over."

"We can't just start over."

"Why not?" He turned to her, with a look that resembled the one he had on his face when he told her how he felt.

This time, however, she wasn't scared. She knew that, rationally, they couldn't start over. But at that moment, Brennan didn't want anything else.

"Is not like we can pretend nothing ever happened."

"We don't have to." he insisted "One shot. You said you regretted your decision. You just have to make a different one."

The traffic was moving now, so he couldn't keep his eyes on hers. But he could feel her staring at him. He could almost see the logical part of her brain struggling with her feelings.

"How?"

It was a simple question. But despite everything he said, he didn't know what to do. He chose the honest answer.

"I don't know. But we'll figure it out. Right?" he looked over for confirmation. For his relief, he found it in her eyes.

"What?"

Brennan and Angela were in Brennan's apartment, sitting in the couch. The talk they were supposed to have was delayed through the rest of the day. Now, Angela had her jaw dropped and a half-shocked, half-amused smile. Her friend just shared a lot of very interesting data.

"Why didn't you tell me all of this before?"

"I don't know. I... I'm not good at talking about feelings and... other things. I was confused, and scared..."

"Honey. You're still confused and you're still scared."

"I am." she admitted "But now, for some reason, I'm able to deal with that without pushing him away. I've done that two times already. I don't wanna risk it a third time and losing him."

Angela smiled at the confession "So what you're gonna do now?"

"He said something about starting over. But I don't know how to do that, and neither does him."

"Well," Angela said with a playful smirk "You're in a different universe. If you can't make a fresh start here, I don't think you can do it elsewhere."


End file.
